<aside> <img src="/icons/list-indent_gray.svg" alt="/icons/list-indent_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Scaling SIS up
You can use SIS to sync across multiple value streams or a whole company.
SIS has both to be relevant to everyone involved AND reach the deliverable level of planning detail. So only some activities will be done at “All” level, while some will need to be done in parallel at value stream or team level.
In general you will organise things in a sandwich as follows:
All value streams must share the same iteration cadence. Timing is even more important than in standard SIS because for most activities you’ll need one extra level of feedback loops.
The SIS facilitators will have to work even harder to keep the synchronisation going across everyone involved.
You will need context setting at the “All” level to make sure everyone is on the same page. You could piggy-back and adapt existing mechanisms, for example town hall meetings.
At the “All” level the context should not change too often, so it’s possible for this level update to be done a bit further away from the “Plan” step. Don’t leave more than 2 weeks though.
In most contexts, you’ll also probably need more detailed context setting at the value stream level, as in standard SIS, very near to the “Plan” step.
This is done independently in each of the value streams involved. That said, as your SIS implementation matures, you will see that the value streams will increasingly seek each other’s inputs in their own planning.
As for the standard SIS, you will need for all value stream tactical models to be understandable by all participants. Which is going to be harder across multiple contexts.
As always, when in doubt the needs of each team will have to win, but make every attempt you can at sharing a basic visual language across everyone.
The Sync Event is a full sandwich. The “All” parts must be incredibly short. At the start, only introduction and any super-important changes to the context. At the end, a 60 seconds summary of the “All” point of view, plus a positive message towards the next iteration.
Very rarely, the sync event may unearth an “All” level change required, and that may need detailing. It’s so rare that it’s OK if it just blows the agenda open: don’t build in time by default to cater for that eventuality.
Inside the sandwich, each value stream manages their SIS event, with the constraint of making sure all agendas are synchronised so everyone can participate in each other’s activities.